1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a hard disk drive, and more particularly, to a particle extracting device guiding air, including particles such as dust, on a disk to the outside of the disk, and a hard disk drive including the particle extracting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fine particles such as dust existing on a disk are attached onto a surface of the disk, and thus, operations of a read/write head become unstable. That is, when the read/write head collides with the fine particles existing on the surface of the disk, scratches may be generated on the read/write head by the hard fine particles, and thus, the performance of the read/write head may be degraded. In addition, layers of the disk may be contaminated or damaged by the accumulated fine particles. That is, a lubricant layer or a protective layer of the disk is scratched by the accumulated fine particles, and accordingly, a magnetic recording layer is degraded, and a serious disk error may be generated.
Therefore, the fine particles should be discharged so as not to remain in the hard disk drive, in particular, on the read/write head and the surface of the disk.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional hard disk drive including a filtering device for removing fine particles remaining in the hard disk drive.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional hard disk drive includes a housing 1 having a base member 3 and a cover member 2, a spindle motor 6 installed on the base member 3, one or more data storage disks 4 fixedly installed on the spindle motor 6, and an actuator 5 for moving a read/write head, which reproduces and records data, onto a predetermined position on the data storage disk 4.
In the hard disk drive described above, when the data storage disk 4 rotates at a high speed, the air in the housing 1 flows in the same direction as the rotating direction of the data storage disk 4, that is, in a direction denoted by arrow A of FIG. 1. Some of the flowing air is guided by an air guide 9 formed on an outer circumferential portion of the data storage disk 4, and passes through a filter 7. The fine particles such as dust included in the flowing air are filtered by the filter 7.
In the above hard disk drive of 2.5 inches or larger, since a diameter of the disk is large and the rotating speed is fast (about 5,400 rpm or faster), the air flows sufficiently by the rotation of the disk, and thus, the particles can be discharged easily.
However, in a small and thin type small form factor (SFF) hard disk drive, a diameter of the disk is small, and the rotation speed is slow. Therefore, the air flow occurring due to the rotation of the disk is not sufficient, and thus, the particles on the disk cannot be discharged easily out of the disk. Therefore, the read/write head and the surface of the disk may be physically damaged, or performances of the read/write head may be degraded.